A fair price for my Solara? HELP!

[flybigjet@earthlink.net]

Greetings to all-

I've finally gotten a short break from commuting to war, and am thinking about selling my Solara sometime in the next few months. Reasons? Mostly because I really don't drive it a whole lot (almost 5 years old- 26100 miles), the fact that a BMW M3, Infiniti G35 coupe, or Mini Cooper are starting to sound good, and as much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to get bored with it since I've pretty much done everything that could be reasonably expected of it.

Anyhow, I have no real idea what the car is worth with all of its modifications, so THIS IS A REQUEST FOR HELP ON PRICING it properly (KBB lists it at ~$11100 without mods). It's a 1999 Solara SE, Flame Red/Charcoal leather 5-speed V-6. Fluids have historically been premium synthetics (Mobil 1, Redline, Motul, etc.) and has always been run on premium unleaded. Tires are essentially brand new (maybe 1000 miles), and the entire car is mechanically perfect- not a single thing wrong with it. It has never been tracked, raced, autocrossed wrecked, or redlined. The body is completely straight, with no dents. Paint is very good, with just expected minor scratches/rock chips. My entire goal in modifying the car was to make everything look like it was installed at the factory- meaning no "bling-bling", loose wires, or junko parts- the main thrust was to make something that was handled well and was surprisingly fast, but didn't scream "hey, look at my boy-racer toy". You can see some pics of the car at http://www.cardomain.com/id/flybigjet . The only difference is that it will soon have a carbon fiber hood installed. Honestly, it runs better than the day it came off the line- this is the car that Toyota *should* have built. Location is in Denver, CO, but am willing to deliver within a reasonable distance (as long as I can be dropped off at the airport to get home).

Obviously, there's been a lot of time and money spent on the car, so I'd appreciate some input. And before someone asks the inevitable, No, I will *not* be parting out the car- my options are either to sell it with everything done to it, or keep it as a weekend toy

Here's the list:

- TRD 1MZ-FE supercharger
- 2.6” (7 lb.) supercharger pulley
- TRD belt drive/automatic belt tension assembly
- Denso IK-22 Iridium spark plugs
- Magnacor KV-85 spark plug wires
- Ignition Solutions Plasma Booster
- TRD short-throw quickshifter w/ leather knob
- TRD limited-slip differential (Redline fluids)
- ClutchMasters Stage III Kevlar-bonded clutch (Redline fluids)
- TRD 1.3 kg/cm (18.5 psi) radiator cap
- TRD oil-filler cap (Mobil 1 10-W30 synthetic oil)
- Mobil 1 high efficiency synthetic oil filter
- Millen intake w 7.5” K&N cone filter w/ velocity stack
- Greddy Evolution Cat-back exhaust
- Cattman y-pipe w/ welded O2 sensor dyno port
- TRD front strut tower brace
- TRD rear anti-sway bar
- Energy Suspension greasable rear sway bar bushings
- Whiteline front anti-sway bar
- Eilbach 1.25” drop springs
- Bilstein shocks
- Custom slotted front/rear strut assemblies for camber adjustment
- O.Z. Racing Monte Carlo lightweight 17x8 five-spoke wheels
- O.Z. Racing carbon fiber center caps and lockset
- Rolled and repainted rear fenderwalls
- Sumitomo HTRZ-II 225/45/17 tires
- Front/rear extended length hub bolts
- Front/rear KVR cross-drilled rotors (Motul dot-4 fluids)
- Cadmium plating on all brake rotors
- Front/rear Porterfield Racing carbon fiber pads
- SMC Performance stainless steel brake lines
- Daytona Yellow/clearcoated brake calipers/torque plates
- VIS carbon fiber hood
- 3M invisible bra
- Optima Deep-Cycle Yellow Top battery
- Monster Cable positive/negative battery clamps
- Prestolite Wire Endurance Plus 4-gauge battery cables
- Nippo-Denso 12V/160 amp alternator
- SuvLights 100W headlight wiring harness
- Krypton Xenon 3900K 90/100W headlamps
- SuvLights 80W foglight wiring harness
- Hiper Industries 80W foglamps
- Solar White headliner lamp
- APC Super Bright parking/front turn, rear turn bulbs
- APC Super Bright stop, license plate, trunk bulbs
- Escort Passport SR-1 X/K/Ka/Laser detector with custom in-tachometer mounting
- Piezo horn for oem door lock controller
- Two Fiamm 132db high/low tone horns
- Autometer boost gauge
- Autometer EGT gauge
- Autometer pedestal tachometer
- A’Pexi S-AFC (custom mounted in headliner)
- DynoJet tuning of S-AFC (calculated 308 hp/310 tq @ flywheel—dyno'd before cat-back installation)
- Shaved rear “Toyota” logo
- shaved side “SE”, “V6” logos
- Autometer 2-gauge A-pillar pod
- Excalibur alloy wheel locks
- OBX Racing pedal covers
- “Supercharged” quarter panel logos
- Sony CDX-C910 Mobile ES CDplayer
- Sony remote control
- Sony U-50D Mobile ES DSP
- Fosgate Punch 600-A4 four-channel amp
- Fosgate Punch 1 farad capacitor
- 6” MB Quart 218.03 SX Seperates front/rear speakers
- Four MB Quart MusiComp crossovers
- Fosgate Punch 150-A2 two-channel amplifier
- Fosgate Punch 0.5 farad capacitor
- 10” JL Audio subwoofer
- Custom-built trunk-mount removable sub enclosure
- Custom-built trunk-mounted equipment rack
- V-Block Vibration Dampening Shield
- 4-gauge in-line fuse holder
- 4/8-gauge fuse block
- 4-gauge MonsterCable power lead
- 8-gauge Nakamichi power/ground leads
- 8-gauge Nakamichi braided speaker wire
- Professionally tuned by Excalibur Sound of Denver

In addition, the following will be included: TWS Componants engine cover, Fidanza lightweight flywheel, new 6 lb. supercharger pulley, stock airbox/tubing, stock hood, and any other oem parts that are still lurking in my basement.

I've never been brave enough to add up all the costs involved in this car, so I need help determing a fair price. THANKS. Rod.

[ICrazyChrisI]

Im sorry, but I have NO idea on how much the 'Ultimate Solara' would cost Maybe keep it as a weekend car that is uncommon?

[HKSV6SLE]

damn is all i can say

[JoeB]

Rod, your car is VERY impressive and you have done most mods that any of us would want to do. Unfortunately, the rules of resale just aren't fair. The market value of the car will never be fair to all the mods any of us do. It will be worth some (?how much?) more money but to a drastically smaller market.

One thing people do to try to recover their investment is to keep all the stock parts and put them back on to sell the car and sell the aftermarket parts separately which in the long run will net you much more money. You would have to find someone that just really wanted the car with all the mods done to it just the way it is and you would still take a beating. I waited for almost 3 years until I started upgrades. When I decided I really liked the car for the long run, then I decided to start all of these expensive mods. I'd love to say your car should be worth $20k because I really think it is but I'm fairly certain you can't get that much for it. -JoeB

[SpikedMantis]

Just like a nuclear warhead, I'd hate to see that beauty fall into the "wrong hands!"